This article is part of the “Meet Your Neighbor Monday” series, highlighting the stories of individuals who make Warren County a special place to live. If you have a suggestion for a person to profile, email jrex@timesobserver.com

RUSSELL – For Big Bay Allen, music has always been a large part of his life.

At 7 years old, Allen sat down at a piano, and by 10, he had added guitar.

Now, Allen has spent nearly four decades immersed in music, writing songs, performing, and building a catalog that spans more than 28 hours of original material on streaming platforms.

“I’ve been songwriting since day one,” Allen said. “I have a song that I have been working on for 15 years, but other songs happen in 15 minutes.”

Allen records both solo and collaboratively, working from his home studio or inside professional spaces with fellow musicians. His recording process often begins simply with a “scratch track” of voice and guitar sent to collaborators, inviting them to add their own interpretation. From there, the song grows organically.

That flexible approach mirrors the structure of Allen’s band, Big Bay Allen and the Extended Hand Band. Rather than a fixed lineup, the “band” is a rotating collective of musicians who contribute when they can.

“Every band I’ve ever been in broke up,” Allen said with a laugh. “So I was always like, I can just do my own thing, and I can’t break up with myself.”

Over the years, the Extended Hand Band has included bass players, drummers, keyboardists, harmonica players, horn sections, and even international collaborators. One friend from Ireland plays Irish flute, while another from Virginia contributes mandolin.

However, on Allen’s new album, the name “Extended Hand Band” appears with a line through it, signaling a more solo-driven project.

While he enjoys a variety of genres, Allen has found a home in the blues.

“The community that I found there is like a family,” he said. “It’s a very niche demographic, but everyone is nice and supportive.”

That sense of community is on full display during the International Blues Challenge, a prestigious competition held annually on Beale Street in Memphis.

To qualify, musicians must first win their regional competition. Allen has done this twice, winning the Blues Society of Western Pennsylvania’s challenge in both 2023 and 2025. Those wins earned him spots at the international competition in January 2024 and again in January 2026.

This event transforms the legendary street into a celebration of blues music, with musicians from around the world performing before judges in packed clubs.

“It’s not just based on the musician, but that night’s performance, that night’s set of judges, that night’s crowd, and so you never know what’s going to happen in competition,” said Allen. “You could almost have the best musician you can think of, and they may not win, just based on the circumstances of the night.”

While Allen’s musical life continues to expand, his full-time calling is in the church. He serves as a pastor at Russell, Sugar Grove and Youngsville First United Methodist Churches.

At first glance, a blues musician and a pastor might seem like separate identities. For Allen, they are deeply connected.

“A lot of the blues is what you would look at as lament from a pastoral standpoint,” he explained. “It’s the tough, rough, hard stuff of life that everyone can connect to.”

Rather than preaching from the stage, Allen lets the music do the work for him.

“When I’m in a venue, I don’t like to preach to people. I just sing the blues,” he said. “And sometimes you’d be surprised by the conversations I get into, you’d think we were in church.”

That overlap has inspired a dream of creating a “blues church,” where hymns would be replaced with music that, while not explicitly religious, carries what Allen calls “eternal truth.”

Allen’s influences range from B.B. King’s stage presence to the acoustic blues of Mississippi John Hurt and Piedmont blues musicians he discovered growing up in Virginia.

Allen attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania as a theater major, where he met his wife. His pastoral journey led him through several Pennsylvania communities before bringing him to the Russell area.

While this may not be a major blues hub, Allen remains grounded. “It’s where I’m called pastorally,” he said.

His newest album, “Blues Music”, will be released Jan. 1 on all major streaming platforms and Bandcamp, which Allen encourages fans to use over services like Spotify because it directly supports artists.

“Go out and see some live music, buy CDs,” Allen suggested. “The more people support live music, the more it’ll keep happening.”